Just Deserts (7 page)

“What can you expect from a stupid Arab?”

“I didn't mean to offend you,” I apologized.

“You didn't care about offending me or not, you just hoped I wouldn't understand that you were offending me. That's different from not meaning to offend me.”

“But you are my guide, right?”

“As you surmised, that is correct.”

“So you're going to take me to Tunis … and then I can get back to civilization.”

He scoffed. “Tunis is the epicentre of one of the greatest civilizations in human history, so yes, that is the plan.”

“Plans can be altered,” I said.

“Sometimes plans
must
be altered.”

“I'm glad you agree with that. Could we talk about an altered plan?”

“We are free to talk about anything. The desert allows conversation.”

I didn't know or care what the desert “allowed,” but this was sounding promising.

“How about I present, as an alternative plan, that instead of walking to Tunis, we drive to Tunis?”

“Do you have a car?” he asked.

“Of course not, but we could get a car.”

“Do you see any cars?” he asked. “There is no Hertz Rent-a-Car out here.”

“But I'm sure that for enough money we could get a car or a Land Cruiser or something to appear.”

“Like magic?” he asked.

“Money is like magic.”

“Not out here. Money is useless out here,” he said.

“Money is never useless. Look, I don't know what my father is paying you, but I'll pay you just as much if you can get me a drive to Tunis.”

“I don't think your father would approve of that change in plans,” he said.

“I don't see my father out here, so he doesn't have to know about it.”

“So you would have me lie to him.”

“Not lie, just not tell. It's not like you run into him on a regular basis or anything, do you?”

“I've never met your father.”

“Even better.”

“‘Better' isn't the word I would use,” he said. “But it's amazing that in the first few minutes we've been together, you have called me stupid, asked me to lie, and tried to bribe me and buy me off for a few dollars.”

“It would be a lot more than a few dollars,” I said.

“Aaahhh, so you aren't questioning my integrity and honesty, because you think I have neither. You are
simply trying to settle on an advantageous price for those items, as if this were a business negotiation.”

“I don't know about the business part, but it is a negotiation. All of life is open for negotiation,” I suggested.

“I am afraid not. Some things are not negotiable. They simply are or are not.”

Great, I was walking through the desert with Socrates.

“Look, all I'm trying to do is get to Tunis,” I said.

“Then we have no need for negotiations. I'm going to
take
you to Tunis.”

“I want to get there fast.”

“Then you must walk more quickly. Simple.”

“But I don't want to walk at all.”

“Then you most certainly do have a problem. Tunis will not come to you. You must go to Tunis. But first we must stop for the night.”

He stepped aside. In the distance there was a clearing, and in it were two small orange tents. And sitting beside them, around a small fire, were three people.

CHAPTER EIGHT

AFTER I GOT OVER
the shock of realizing that we weren't alone, I watched as the outlines around the fire became real people. There appeared to be two guys and a girl—a very tall, very blond girl. She was certainly not a local. All three were young, around my age or a year or two older. Obviously I didn't know anything about them or what they'd done to get themselves tossed into this situation, but more people was better. It would mean that I wasn't alone with this guy. It was reassuring to simply have people around. Although, quite frankly, I was more comfortable when there were millions of people around.

There was also another benefit. People I knew, deserts I didn't. The more people I had around me, the more I felt in control.

They greeted us both with smiles. I guess misery really does love company.

“I want you to meet the newest member of our team,” the guide said.

Is that what he was calling us, a “team”? How cute.

“Kajsa, this is Ethan.”

“Pleased to meet you,” she said as she smiled and extended her hand. She was very pretty and blond and tall—very Nordic, like a Viking princess. How far had her Viking ship been blown off course?

“Yes, very good to meet you, too, Kaisa,” I offered.

“It's pronounced
Keesa
.”

“Sorry,” I said. What I wanted to say was “I don't care,” but I figured an apology would stand me in better stead. No point alienating somebody I might need as an ally.

“Next up is Andy.”

“Good to meet you,” he said.

His expression didn't change—no smile or frown—and his eyes were hidden behind dark sunglasses, the same sunglasses the guide had. Actually all of them were wearing the same style of Oakley sunglasses.

Andy shook my hand and his grip almost hurt, it was so strong. He was tall, square-shouldered, and he had short, bristle-cut hair, like he was in the army or a cop. He pumped my arm twice and then gave me back my hand. I had the urge to check it for bruising. I made a mental note not to get this guy mad at me.

“And, finally, this is Connor.”

“Hello, glad to meet you,” he said.

“Me too.”

His grip was more relaxed and he appeared friendly—actually kind of like a friendly member of a boy band. What had he done to get here, sung out of key?

“I'm going to leave you four to get better acquainted. I'll be back soon.”

The guide turned and walked away. We all watched him scale a dune and then disappear over the top.

“At least we saw him go that time,” Connor said.

I gave him a questioning look.

“He's like a ghost,” he explained.

“He just appears or disappears and you don't even notice,” Kajsa said.

I could certainly agree with that.

“He's a desert Ninja,” she continued.

“I don't know about the Ninja part, but he's definitely special-forces trained,” Andy added. “And probably martial-arts trained … I'd know.”

Okay, so Andy clearly had some martial arts training. I underlined the mental note I'd already made about the guy.

“How long have you been out here?” I asked.

“This is our second full day,” Andy replied. “We really weren't expecting anybody else to join us.”

“It sort of caught me by surprise as well. Why are you all out here?”

“I'm a member of the national junior speed-skating team,” Kajsa said.

“Okay …” I was hoping she would add a bit more to that statement.

“And I'm a champion cross-country runner,” Connor said. He sounded very proud.

“I'm in pre-medicine at college,” Andy said. “I've ridden a bike across the States and run a couple of marathons, including Boston.”

“You ran Boston!” Connor exclaimed. “What was that like?”

“Pretty amazing. Incredible crowd, so it was hard to run a great time, but I still came in at—”

“I meant what did you do to end up here?” I cut in.

“Oh,” Andy said. “I guess just the usual.”

“There was the application process,” Kajsa said.

“I heard they had over two hundred applicants,” Connor added. “And then there were the references.”

“But that was no problem,” Kajsa said.

“Other than deciding which references were the best,” Connor said. “Then after the initial screening, there were interviews.”

“
Telephone
interviews,” Andy added. “We never did meet with anybody until we arrived at the Tunis airport.”

“That's where we all met for the first time. Where we met Larson for the first time.”

“That's his name?” I asked.

All three of them looked at me questioningly. They weren't the only ones with questions.

“You didn't know his name?” Kajsa asked.

“Not until five seconds ago. So what else did you have to do?”

“The last step, of course, was paying the fees,” Connor said.

“It was pretty expensive,” Andy said. “My parents lent me some of it, and I had savings from my job last summer.”

“My parents helped, too,” Connor said, and Kajsa nodded her head in agreement.

I guess that was one thing we had in common—our parents were picking up the costs.

“So let me see if I've got this straight. You applied, gave references, were interviewed and paid a lot of money to get here.”

“Yes,” Andy offered, and the other two nodded.

“Didn't you have to do the same things?” Kajsa asked.

“I'm sure my father paid money, but I didn't do any of the rest of it.”

“So what did you do to get here?” Connor asked.

“Apparently I drank too much and I didn't play well with others.”

“What?” Connor was voicing the surprise they all seemed to feel.

“But that doesn't make any sense,” Andy said.

“I'm not claiming that
any
of this makes sense. Making sense would mean that I wasn't kidnapped and
forced to come here against my will, that I wasn't made to cross some desert to get back to civilization, or—”

“Hold on,” Andy said, cutting me off. “You're telling us that you don't want to be here?That you're here against your will, like a prisoner?”

“Not
like
a prisoner—
as
a prisoner, or at least a hostage.”

“I don't get it,” Connor said. “Your not wanting to be part of this is just way too confusing.”

“It
is
confusing,” I agreed. “The only thing more confusing to me is that, as far as I can see, you three actually
want
to be out here and worked your tails off to get here.” I got up. “I need a drink.”

“Here, let me get you some water,” Kajsa offered.

“Isn't there anything else?” I asked. When faced with making friends and influencing people in new and awkward social situations, I'd always found alcohol to be my best friend. I needed to loosen up a bit, show these people what a fun guy I really was.

“We had some orange juice this morning,” she said, “but that's all gone, I think.”

“Affirmative, the OJ is gone,” Andy stated.

Perfect. What I really wanted would have gone well with orange juice, but I was pretty sure vodka wasn't going to be one of my choices anyway.

“So do you want some water?” she asked.

“Well, if that's the best game in town,” I said, “sure, bring on the water. It's a party!”

CHAPTER NINE

THE SUN SETTING
threw the whole world into darkness, but breaking through the darkness were stars—millions and millions of stars—their glow punctuated by a bright, full moon. We sat around the little fire, sort of huddled on a tiny island of light in a sea of darkness. What else were we going to do? As long as I didn't stare into the fire, I was amazed by just how far I could see beyond the circle of light. Not that there was much to see, but my eyes were adjusting.

I scanned the surrounding landscape. I still had the feeling that I was being watched, and realistically, we probably were being watched. I assumed that Larson guy was sitting just out of sight, observing us like a special-forces Ninja, a peeping Tom pervert. I figured if I looked hard enough, I might be able to pick out his image before he materialized in our midst.

Kajsa stood up. “Time for a washroom break,” she said.

“Again?” I asked.

She shrugged. “My father says I have a bladder the size of a walnut.”

She switched on her headlamp, and the light flashed in my eyes for a second before she walked away from the fire, her way marked by the little path of light that preceded her. She slowly climbed up the dune, and then both she and the light disappeared over the top and down the other side.

I needed to go, too, but not enough to venture out there into the darkness. Sooner or later I'd have no choice, but I was hoping for later. This was the third time I'd seen her disappear and reappear, so I knew it could be done, but still, did I really want to walk into the night in the desert?

I turned around, and like magic, Larson was squatting down between the two boys. I almost did a double take. It was more than a little unnerving. On the upside, maybe his reappearance would change the conversation around the fire. All the talk lately had been about SAT scores and college applications, summer jobs and athletic accomplishments. I couldn't have cared less.

“Ethan, have you been to the washroom yet?” Larson asked.

“Many times. I've been doing it for years and years. I'm so good at it that it's been a long time since anybody has felt a need to ask me about it.”

“I'm sure that's a major source of pride for your
family,” he replied. “But have you gone out there?” he asked, pointing into the darkness.

“I was thinking it wouldn't be that much different here or there or back home.”

“No, actually it's quite different going in the desert. You have to take the necessary precautions.”

Other than something dribbling down my leg or something else getting caught in the zipper, I didn't know what precautions he could have in mind.

“Forewarned is forearmed. Could one of you gentlemen please explain the things he might want to be aware of?” Larson said.

“The most likely problem would be a camel spider,” Andy said.

“Yeah, it is a bit unsettling the way they jump,” Connor added. “Especially when you have your pants down around your ankles,” he said with a laugh.